Globe Life Park? Giving thanks for Dodger Stadium, Angel Stadium

By By Bill Shaikin

Feb 05, 2014 | 1:46 PM

Bill Leavell, president of Globe Life Insurance, shakes hands with the Texas Rangers mascot, Captain, during a news conference to announce that they reached a naming-rights deal for the Rangers ballpark. (Gregg Ellman / Associated Press)

Globe Life Park? Does that name tell you anything about what kind of park that might be?

No, because it is an advertisement for an insurance company. The Texas Rangers announced Wednesday that they had sold naming rights to their stadium, which will now be known as Globe Life Park in Arlington.

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So let us give thanks for Dodger Stadium and Angel Stadium, two of nine major league ballparks without a corporate name. The others, as cited in the report linked above: Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Kauffman Stadium, Marlins Park and Nationals Park. (The Marlins and Nationals would be happy to sell naming rights.)

Kasten also has said the Dodgers have invested $150 million in stadium renovations. The Dodgers have said they have no plans to move into a new stadium but have declined to rule it out, and a new stadium might well be the place where the Dodgers would consider selling naming rights. On the other hand, the New York Yankees made plenty of corporate bucks in their new ballpark while preserving the Yankee Stadium name.